FOOD FOR THOUGHT: FAA: Diversity, safety should not be mutually exclusive

By Brian SullivanColumnist

Wednesday

Jun 13, 2018 at 6:00 AM

Recent news coverage that the Federal Aviation Administration has prioritized diversity over safety in the hiring of air traffic controllers is troubling.

Recent news coverage that the Federal Aviation Administration has prioritized diversity over safety in the hiring of air traffic controllers is troubling. Unfortunately, it has been and continues to be an institutional problem, deeply rooted in the FAA's bureaucracy.

Some of the coverage has pointed the finger of blame at the Obama administration for its decision in May 2013 to "transform" the FAA into "a more diverse and inclusive workplace." Subsequently, they began a centralized hiring process which instituted a 'biographical questionnaire" which essentially awarded more points to applicants with a lower aptitude in science and who'd been unemployed for the previous three years, thereby actively seeking candidates who were less qualified to actually perform as air traffic controllers.

"Insane," you might say, but not for the entrenched bureaucrats at the FAA, aptly labeled the Tombstone Agency by the former Inspector General of the Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo, for its failure to act until after a disaster had occurred.

Although the Obama administration certainly exasperated the problem, this type of insanity had been going on for years within the FAA. Let's take a look back at some examples:

In October 2004, an administrative law judge found that the FAA engaged in, "impermissable machinations" to deprive an individual of his Security Division Manager position so as to elevate a woman " in order to satisfy its diversity goal." Qualifications and experience were set aside to further the diversity objective.

The judge found that the discrimination plot included "manipulating personnel records and lying under oath in order to artificially meet diversity goals." She found that the three FAA management officials involved "were not credible witnesses during the court proceedings," and stated that the FAA's human resource representative was "reprehensible," "abhorrent," "dismissive," "disrespectful," and "unbefiting of an agency official, a human resource manager, and an employee of the federal government tasked with observing basic Title VII principles and general respect for colleagues." A pretty damning assessment indeed.

As for the FAA's security manager, a deputy administrator for security and hazardous materials, the judge said that he was guilty of "clearly perjuring himself," noting that, "This is hardly conduct befitting a highly placed official of the FAA." The judge also added, "It must be said that nothing about the agency's conduct in this matter reflects well on the management officials involved, particularly their discriminatory actions."

In the instance of the deputy administrator for security and hazardous materials, the judge said he "was evasive, refused to answer even the most direct yes-or-no question, and was effectively impeached on a number of material facts on which his oral testimony at the hearing contradicted the affidavit he had provided for the record of investigation." So much for the integrity of FAA management and their penchant for prioritizing diversity goals over the safety and security of the traveling public.

Now, if this little bit of history isn't enough to help you understand the current predicament we find ourselves in, where diversity is given precedence over safety in the hiring of air traffic controllers, perhaps the following will help further demonstrate the seriousness of this concern and how pervasive it is.

The FAA manager, who Judge Zulema Hinojos-Fall found had perjured himself in the above case, was also responsible for appointing an unqualified candidate as director of the FAA's Civil Aviation Security Field Office at Boston's Logan Airport. This was the office charged with overseeing security at the airport from where flights 11 and 175 departed on 9/11. Yet his appointee had little experience in airport security, and had not even begun the basic training that all FAA special agents must undergo. During her tenure, it was reported that staff who documented security violations became frustrated because she allowed violations to accumulate without taking appropriate action. After 9/11, it was revealed that she lacked the identification (ramp access) badge necessary for unescorted access to secure areas, which precluded her from being able to assess ramp security.

In his appointment memo to top officials at the FAA, the then manager of the New England Region Security Division, conceded that his appointee had little or no experience in airport security, saying that he recognized that she did not have extensive program knowledge in air security issues, but that he was confident she would be a quick learner. Did this appointment contribute to the security problems at Logan which helped facilitate the 9/11 attacks? We can only imagine. Suffice to say that Logan's security record didn't improve while she was CASFO manager and she was immediately reassigned by the FAA following the 9/11 hijackings.

So, it should be clear that the current state of affairs, where we see diversity goals and objectives given priority over well qualified applicants for air traffic controller jobs is nothing new for the FAA. Whether it be safety or security, the flying public be damned, we're going to meet our diversity goals. It doesn't have to be this way. Diversity and safety/security are not and shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

Full disclosure, I was the Race Relations/Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Officer full time for the Massachusetts National Guard from 1973 to 1978. Diversity goals and objectives are laudatory. I know how these programs are supposed to work and they don't have to be implemented in a way that compromises the FAA's mission of safety and security for the flying public. Diversity goals and objectives can be achieved without reducing qualifying experience for air traffic controllers. It simply means you have to work hard to insure diversity objectives are met without compromising standards. This is not an either-or proposition, and the end does not justify the means.

To demonstrate just how ridiculous and self defeating the current and historical, not to mention hysterical, diversity obsession is within the FAA, let me share a short story. In my final year working for the FAA, I knew I was fighting an uphill battle, whether it be to address known security concerns or to protest against the FAA's prioritizing diversity goals over safety and security. So, with one exception, I waited until I secured my retirement to address issues of concern. But, that one exception was fun and clearly demonstrated how "screwed up" the system was.

I applied for a position for which I was certain I was the best qualified, but knew I wouldn't be selected because of my manager's obsession with diversity. I didn't want the job and would have refused it if selected, but that wasn't the point. My manager made a diversity appointment, so I filed an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint, which I knew would be successful. It was and I settled for five figures. It was my way of securing a separation bonus of sorts, while at the same time demonstrating that reverse discrimination just doesn't cut it. As an aside, my manager was the very same person who, in 2004, Judge Hinojos-Fall found had perjured himself and who had appointed an inexperienced CASFO manager at Boston's Logan Airport in the lead up to 9/11.

In summary, I pray that the Tombstone Agency will pay attention to the current criticism it is receiving and find a way to accomplish diversity goals and objectives without compromising the flying public's safety and security. Hopefully, for once, it will act before a disaster occurs. God bless America!

Brian F. Sullivan is a senior fellow at the American Leadership and Policy Foundation. He is a retired Army Military Police lieutenant colonel and former risk program management specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration. He has more than 30 years of security experience and was presented with a Platinum REMI at the Houston International Film Festival in 2011 for his narration of the aviation security documentary, “Please Remove Your Shoes.”